


[COMPLETE] A Christmas Coyle

by MeltyMetroid



Series: Ribbonissa Shorts [3]
Category: ARMS (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, christmas fic!!, filled with headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 00:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17151494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeltyMetroid/pseuds/MeltyMetroid
Summary: Dr. Coyle is visited by three Spring Men throughout the night of Christmas Eve. Can they show her the true meaning of Christmas?It’s a Dr. Coyle story with a merry dash of A Christmas Carol!





	1. The Secret of the Santas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LazuritesLookalike](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazuritesLookalike/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, everyone~
> 
> This is a mostly standalone Christmas fic, though I'd recommend checking out my previous Dr. Coyle origin story if you want to pick up on a lot of connections:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16725882/chapters/39230844
> 
> All chapters will be posted throughout Christmas Day 2018. Enjoy!
> 
> \-- Gifted to LazuritesLookalike for leaving comments~ Merry Christmas!

_‘Twas the day before Christmas, and though the sunlight was dim,  
_ _A party had started at the local Spring Gym,_

_Our fighters had gathered for the last time this year,  
_ _To share ARM-in-ARM some holiday cheer,_

_With no Toasters or Roasters or Tribolts or Whammers,  
_ _Or Funchucks or Burrchucks or Ramrams or Kerblammers,_

_They had not come to punch but to share the festivity,  
_ _With some light snacks and a gift-giving activity,_

_But while presents lay close wrapped in paper and foil,_  
_No smile could be found on the face of one...  
_ _Coyle._

The gym’s usual range of workout equipment had been pushed aside for the event, leaving plenty of space for the fifteen of them to sit in a wide circle. It took awhile for everyone to get settled down, given many were still pinching cocktail sausages from the nearby snack table with their outstretched ARMS (mainly Spring Man, Max Brass, and Master Mummy), but eventually everyone calmed down enough for Ribbon Girl, with a bright smile on her face and dressed in a cozy pink sweater, to declare the Secret Santa gift exchange officially in motion!

Each fighter bore a present on their lap, some big some small, and over the course of the next half hour or so they were set to pass those presents on to whomever they had drawn the name of at the start of the month.  Basic Secret Santa stuff, really. But this wasn’t exactly the most normal of groups, so Ribbon Girl held some _concern_ over just what some people would be exchanging.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A name was drawn at random to determine who would be getting their gift first, starting off the chain of exchanges. And that name happened to be... _Lola Pop!_

With an uneasy sigh, Min Min stood from her seat and extended her prepared gift over to the clown at the other end of the circle. Lola, finally discovering the identity of her Secret Santa, immediately began to laugh in hysterics. Min Min shook her head, knowing full well she would regret having chosen this particular item, but that at least it was a good gift.

Lola’s eyes shined brightly as she tore through the packaging to find Min Min’s gift. _It was an_ **_airhorn_ ** _._ She would get much mileage from it, ohhhh yes indeedy she would! She was looking forward to it quite a bit...

She thanked Min Min with a wide smile, who took her seat again and gave a grimace for the future ahead of them all, silently vowing to never let her guard down again.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With Min Min’s gift given, it was her turn next to be receiving. Misango stood. She bit her lip, preparing for the worst, panicking internally as the spirit fighter bowed and passed her the poorly-wrapped box without a word.

What was it going to be - a goat’s heart? A holy man’s skull? A jar of Misangan mud?? The cultural divide was far too strong between them. He’d never even _begin_ to understand her interests or hobbies, or even understand the difference between gifts appropriate in Misanga and gifts appropriate in the modern world. For all she knew the box could have a _live_ animal in it. Maybe some sort of horrific jungle bug, even. Or it could-

Min Min gasped softly as she lay her eyes on the contents in Misango’s box. It was a _beanie_ , hand-crafted the same as the bracelets on Misango’s wrists. Not too unsimilar to the one she wore now, which itself was not too unsimilar to her usual one aside from the more festive pattern. But this one had a more tribal-looking print, more Earth-y and nature-y and...

Yeah - she was pretty pleased with it! Pleased enough to swap beanies out right in front of everyone, if still at a lightning quick speed too fast for anyone to properly see her beanie-less for even a moment. She thanked Misango with a very genuine and heartfelt smile on her face.

The moment was kinda ruined, however, as Lola decided it was a pretty good time to try out that airhorn. Many of them jumped, including Min Min, who silently kicked herself for letting her guard down so quickly.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misango’s turn, and up stood... _Mechanica._

She approached the tribal warrior somewhat nervously, before presenting her gift to him with a welcoming smile. He removed from the box a strange contraption of tubes and spouts, looking at it with confusion.

Mechanica gulped, and then did her best to explain as simply as possible that he just needed to put water into it... And _hot_ water would come out! In effect, it was a cleverly designed kettle that didn’t require an energy outlet or any batteries.

Mechanica had based the concept off an interaction the two had shared some months ago, where Misango had taken great fascination in a nearby water cooler’s ability to produce not just cold water but _hot_ water too, and had asked Mechanica many questions about it. It took her about a week to build a prototype that’d return reliable results - not _scaldingly_ hot water, but good and warm - while also being sturdy enough not to be accidentally broken, and easy enough for the Misangan people to use. The end product was quite a good little machine, really.

Misango nodded, smiling softly. He understood the gist of Mechanica’s simplified explanation and looked forward to bringing it back to his people. He bowed to her in gratitude, and she went back to her chair with a sigh of relief.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spingtron stood tall and extended his box to Mechanica. The other ARMS fighters fell still, worried about Spingtron’s choice of gift - he had generally made his distaste for the other fighters quite clear, and that even included _Coyle_ . Ribbon Girl had worried about this from the moment she included him in the name pool, but she never once thought she’d have accidentally paired him up with _Mechanica._ Was she about to get hurt? Or at least severely disappointed?? If she had known they were paired, she-

A bright smile grew on Mechanica’s face. She thanked Springtron wildly as she removed a slick leather jacket from the box and slipped it on over her Christmas jumper - it was _awesome!_ She looked _so_ cool, like some sort of bad girl who plays by her own rules. _Nice._

Springtron struck a finger out in a gun-motion at her and then quietly took his seat again as Mechanica continued to awe over the sweet new jacket. Ribbon Girl felt... _Confused,_ certainly. Most of the other fighters did too. But she also felt an immense amount of relief, so she wasn’t about to question it.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring _Man_ stood now, approaching his robotic duplicate with a bit of unease. He passed down the gift to the metal face sat before him, who glared soullessly back at him.

Springtron tore through the box and removed its contents - a smart three-piece suit. He stared at it motionless for a moment as Spring Man explained that, well, they _all_ needed to dress up smartly sometimes... And seeing as they were the same proportionally, it was a good opportunity to get him a perfectly fitted suit without scaring any tailors.

The mechanical man looked back up at him, nodded slightly, and put the folded suit down gently on his lap. The reaction wasn’t the clearest, sure, but given that he didn’t tear it straight to shreds, Spring Man considered it a win and sat back down.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A poof of smoke appeared in the center of the circle as Ninjara appeared before Spring Man, who’s face grew a smile. The ninja silently handed over a small gift-wrapped present, something close to the size of a box of playing cards, and watched as Spring Man unwrapped it.

Within lay a bundle of multicoloured cards, all tied together with an elastic band. Ninjara explained he had had to pull a lot of favours around the college to complete the collection, but had finally managed to secure what he thought would be the best possible present for a man with an appetite like Spring Man’s - _a stack of gift cards for every single food joint in town._ Or at least all that had a giftcard system.

Spring Man flicked through the cards quickly. Pizza Palace, Hammerslam Hotdogs, Bundle o’ Beefworks, Fiveyard Footlong... All his favourites were here! And so many he had wanted to try for a while now, too - Lady Lasagna, Biff’s Bar & Grill, Ice Cream Loudly, Hamburger Handful... There was even a giftcard to Mintendo Noodle House, which Ninjara had earned from Min Min after helping retile her roof. She remembered thinking it’d have been easier on him to simply purchase a giftcard, but college students weren’t exactly known for being rich, she supposed.

Needless to say, Spring Man accepted this gift with great gratitude. He truly felt the Christmas spirit alive in the room that day, and each of his fellow fighters did t-

_“C’mon, get onnnnn with it.”_ Coyle groaned. “God, this is taking _so long!_ ”

The others gave her some silent glares as Ninjara poofed back to his seat.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next gift-giver was supposed to stand now, though no one did. Ribbon Girl cautiously asked for the person who drew Ninjara’s name to stand, but still there was no movement - not until Mechanica quietly leaned over to the seat next to her and nudged Helix on his gooey shoulder.

Helix blobbed straight up, knocking over his chair in the process, and extended a sticky package to Ninjara. Its wrapping was _somewhat_ neat, but also pretty soaked through with green goop.

Ninjara took the gift and hesitantly opened it. There were several things within the box, all strewn about among colorful sheets of tissue paper - a pebble, a squeaky bone-shaped dog toy, a badly looked after Twintelle plush doll, two pennies, a half-eaten apple... And at the bottom of all of this, _thankfully_ kept goo-free with a few sheets of clingfilm, a WiFi range extending appliance.

Mechanica cleared her throat and quietly mentioned that she had to _help_ Helix a bit with the wrapping and... Well, everything else. He had insisted on a lot of those inclusions, so she couldn’t really have much say, except for the WiFi-extender, which she hoped would be useful for his college, given reviews online had noted the lack of WiFi range as a negative.

Ninjara shrugged off the gifts stickier down-sides and accepted it anyway, to which Helix smiled brightly, before stumbling back to his spot in the circle, where he sat as a puddle on the floor as his chair was now overturned.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twintelle handed her rather fancily wrapped gift over to the green puddle on the floor. He flopped over it and it began to float within him.

After some coaxing from Mechanica he spat it back out, reconstituted his body a bit better, and then tore through the packaging. He screeched _far_ too loudly after noticing the contents, hurting everyone’s ears, and then removed the series of Twintelle-themed merchandise from within. He slid into the shirt, set the rolled-up poster to float around inside himself, and then sat the new and clean Twintelle plush doll on his lap. He looked _over the moon_ with happiness.

Twintelle shrugged and floated back to her seat. Job done, she supposed.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Master Mummy now quietly passed his rather poorly wrapped present to Twintelle, explaining that it was rather hard to shop for her given their differing personalities and such, but he hoped she’d enjoy it well enough anyway.

She carefully unwrapped it by the taped folds, far more delicately than others hand unwrapped their gifts, and then removed the contents - an _ancient_ vase adorned with gold trimmings and rather fanciful patterns. Mummy went on to explain how it was older than even _he_ was, though only by a few years, and that he’d hoped it’d make for a good conversation piece for any dinner parties or such.

Twintelle agreed that it would, and found its style to be rather to her liking. Not bad, Mummy. Not bad at all.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brass hopped up from his seat with a wide grin. He looked at Mummy with something of a _kinship_ in his eyes, before bringing up how the two of them were the only ones present here who were so equally _heavyset._ And how the biggest hurdle to face when you’re _this_ big was...

Master Mummy unwrapped his gift to find several pairs of _very_ wide underwear. Mummy brushed his thumb against the one on the top, and marveled at just how _soft_ was was.

Brass nodded ecstatically, exclaiming how had spent thirty odd years looking for the best pair on the market, and how he was glad to finally share his discovery with someone.

Mummy nodded back, that same kinship now in his eyes. For a heavyset father who was _centuries_ old there was truly no better gift possible.

The two exchanged a knowing, and understanding, nod.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With Brass seated once again, BYTE awoke from his standby spectator mode, slowly stood, and then walked over to him. A whirl came from his chestplate, where a small slip of paper began to print. Brass worried for a moment that he may about to be get a ticket for some reason, but instead BYTE began to explain himself.

BYTE had expedited Brass’s old request for a Buster Beach party license - a request he had entered all the way back in _February._ These requests were always low-priority and it was little surprise to him that it had yet to go through at all, but having BYTE speed up the approval like this? Now _that_ was a welcome surprise!

Brass took the printed slip with all the information he needed. He was clear to party it up on Buster Beach through for the _entirety_ of the next year (provided he gave two weeks notice, mind you)! Summer just couldn’t come fast enough now.

BYTE wished him a happy holiday period and BARQ, by his side, gave a small bark soundbite. The two then returned to their designated position in the circle.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BYTE understood that he and BARQ were to be next to receive, and so they did not yet re-enter their standby spectator mode. Instead, their attention switched over to Ribbon Girl, who had gotten to her feet.

Ribbon Girl handed over the beautifully wrapped present to-

_“Goddd, are we still going on with this?”_ Coyle interjected again. “It just doesn’t end!”

Ribbon Girl pouted, turning to her. “It’ll go faster if you _don’t interrupt..._ ”

Coyle gave a very long sigh. “Fine, fine, get on with it then.”

Ribbon Girl turned back to BYTE, giving a quiet sigh of her own, before her face switched back to the jolly smile she had had before. She handed the present, streamed with ribbons, to BYTE. The mechanical officer pinched a ribbon at the top and pulled on it, slowly unfolding the gift.

She cleared her throat and explained how she had read into all sorts of stuff about police bots and found that a major sensor/stability/battery life upgrade was being rolled out across the nation which sought to greatly improve the police bot’s ability to patrol longer and more efficiently. The only problem was that this upgrade was first being passed out on the _other_ side of the country, and it wouldn’t cross over to BYTE & BARQ’s domain until very late into the next year.

However, being the champion, Ribbon Girl was able to make a good case for the flagship ARMS-fighting police bot to get his upgrade early. The necessary drives were delivered to the League for her to pick up and they were now firmly in BYTE & BARQ’s possession!

BYTE thanked her, as did BARQ with a cheery sound clip, and they vowed to install the upgrades following closure of their current Secret Santa get-together.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ribbon Girl gave a sigh of relief as she took her seat again. She’d been stressing over her Secret Santa gift for the whole month - even if it _was_ pretty much guaranteed to have gone fine for her, seeing as BYTE & BARQ weren’t exactly likely to react _badly_ . But she was only left to consider who _her_ gift-giver would be...? There were only a couple fighters left now: Lola Pop, Dr. Coyle, and-

Kid Cobra flipped up to his feet, gave a very casual remark about Santa being ‘in the house’, and then pressed his gift over to Ribbon Girl. She smiled warmly, while worrying somewhat on the inside - what the _hell_ was this about to be? Their personalities didn’t exactly match all that much, so surely he couldn’t have hit the mark all that well...

_Except that he did._ Within the box were a series of very lovely soaps and fragrances - not cheap and badly produced ones, but also not high-end overpowering ones more in line with Twintelle’s style. They were flowery and gentle. Nice, but rather casual too. They were exactly what she would have chosen for herself - _in fact,_ she had once said before to Min Min how she’d like these _exact_ soaps... _Suspicious._

Though Ribbon Girl would later learn that Min Min actually _hadn’t_ advised him on these, or at least she had zero recollection of ever mentioning them for him to think back to. When Min Min would later ask, Kid Cobra would simply shrug and say he had asked his mother to help pick some stuff and she ‘just knew these kinda things’. She really did, it seemed.

Ribbon Girl thanked him profoundly as she gleed over her gift.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kid Cobra slipped back over to his chair, before the smiles in the room all fell somewhat as the fighters watched Dr. Coyle jerk up to her feet.

She lugged the scrappy shoebox of her gift under her ARM as she boredly walked over to him. It wasn’t even wrapped.

With a careless flick of her wrist, she flopped the box onto Kid Cobra’s lap and immediately turned back to her seat, without even a care for watching him open it.

Kid Cobra slipped the lid up and squinted at the inside. He pressed his hand at the goop within, grimacing at the stickiness of it all, and wiped around for anything hidden.

Coyle, now back on her chair with her ARMS folded, raised an eyebrow, not sure exactly what he was looking for.

The other fighters were all watching with confusion now too, and as both champion and event organizer, Ribbon Girl felt she had to step in a bit here. She cleared her throat, and casually asked what it was he had gotten.

He shrugged and simply said the box was full of Helix goo, taking his hand out to reveal it covered in sticky green goop.

Everyone’s attention turned back to Coyle, who didn’t seem phased at all.

“...What?” She asked, somewhat annoyed at their expressions. “He sheds that stuff like crazy. I gotta get rid of it all _somehow._ ”

“S-So...” Ribbon Girl stammered. “You didn’t actually get him anything...??”

Coyle rolled her eyes. “He can figure out something to do with the goo.”

“Coyle...” Master Mummy sighed, putting a hand to his face. Mechnica cringed a little from the awkward tone of the room, and Min Min casually looked out of the window to avoid doing the same.

“ _Are we done here now?_ ” Coyle glared back at Ribbon Girl’s bewildered face.

“Wh-Wha? No!” Ribbon Girl continued to stare, wide-eyed. “You’re _supposed_ to give a real gift!”

“For the love of...” Coyle sighed again, as heavily as she could.

“Y’know what? I’m cool with this.” Kid Cobra shrugged, looking at his box of goop. “Least I never have to buy shower gel again.” Ribbon Girl stared at him, even more bewildered, and hoped _dearly_ that that was a joke.

“Okay, cool, _are we done now?_ ” Coyle repeated. “This whole exchange has been the dullest thing I’ve had to sit through since Mummy gave us that family vacation slideshow.”

Ribbon Girl pouted. She gave a disappointed sigh and addressed the room. “Has anyone else not gone yet...?”

Lola raised her hand. “S’just me to give mine, then we’re done-zo.” She drummed the square box on her lap with her fingertips.

Coyle groaned. “ _Just hurry up, then._ ”

Ribbon Girl glared at her. “You know this one’s for _you_ , right?”

“Ah, good!” Coyle got to her feet again. “Then I don’t want it. _Goodbye, everyone._ ”

“Naw c’mon, doc!” Lola insisted. “Don’tcha wanna see what I gotcha?”

“ _No._ ”

“Yeah you do! C’mon!!” She held up the polka-dot print wrapped box, shaking it a little.

“I said _no_ , I _don’t._ ”

“Ya might like it, though!” Lola insisted still.

“I _know_ I wouldn’t.” She glared back. “I wouldn’t even if it _was_ something you thought I might like - but knowing you it’s just a spring-loaded pie.”

“Where’s your Christmas spirit, docccccc?” Lola wrattled her box again.

“ _Dead._ ” She glared back still, getting angrier now.

“You can leave once you’ve opened your present...” Ribbon Girl mumbled.

“ _Actually,_ I can leave whenever I damn well want to!” Coyle snipped at her. “This is the _last_ time you losers drag me into a stupid _Christmas_ party, y’got it?!” She huffed angrily. “The sooner this _stupid_ season is over, _the better._ ”

“You’re bein’ a bit of a Grinch, doc.” Lola sighed, resting her elbow on the unclaimed polka-dot box on her lap.

“Bite me.” Coyle shrugged, leaving without another word. She slammed the door on her way out.

Everyone was feeling pretty glum now. The Christmas spirit had certainly drained from the room. The silence remained for a short while, until Misango slowly leant forward. “...What is a ‘ _Grinch’_?”

“A person who hates Christmas.” Master Mummy replied.

“Feels a lil too cartoonish for Coyle.” Min Min mumbled.  
  
“Yeahhhh.” Lola agreed. “More of a _Scrooge_ , then.”


	2. A Holiday Helix Haunting

Coyle ran her eyes across the prototype blueprints on her desk. Things were looking pretty good for the new Hedlok concept she had come up with, but it still needed some fine-tweaking. Some improved armour would be good... Maybe change out the LEDs for brighter ones... Maybe reshape the head port for a better grip...

A knock came to her door - though a familiar one. “Mm?” She flicked her eyes to it.

Mechanica opened the door slowly and quietly placed a coffee on Coyle’s desk. “Anything in particular you want me to work on today...?” Her tone was somewhat down, but she otherwise seemed fine.

“Just relog some of the archive stuff downstairs.” Coyle shrugged. “ _ You’re late _ , by the way.”

Mechanica pouted. “You said I didn’t have to come in until nine...”

“Did I?” Coyle raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“...The Christmas party?”

“Oh, right! _ That thing. _ ” She sighed. “Forgot all about it.” She looked back down at her blueprints. 

“...It was fun, y’know.” Mechanica mumbled. “You should have stayed.”

“Not in a million years.” She clicked her pen on the desk. “I’ve got far better things to do with my time.”

Mechanica sighed, disappointed. “Okay... Well, I’ll get to work. Let me know if you need anything...”

“Do as much as you can in these next two hours.” She called out as Mechanica headed back for the door. “You can finish up the rest tomorrow.”

She paused. “ _ You said I could have tomorrow off... _ ”

Coyle raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“...Because it’s Christmas??” Mechanica pouted at her again.

“ _ Oh!  _ Right. Jeez, it really takes up so much time, huh?” She sighed. Mechanica didn’t seem much impressed. “Well fine, take tomorrow off. But keep that to yourself - I don’t want the other workers thinking they’re off too.”

Mechanica reluctantly nodded. The Christmas party had gone well enough following Coyle’s tense exit, but now all that Christmas spirit had been sapped out of her again. The Lab was the same as it ever was, with  _ no _ sign that today was Christmas Eve. She found that rather depressing.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About an hour passed. Coyle’s Hedlok plans still hadn’t quite  _ fit _ right, and she was beginning to feel a roadblock in her mind. What was it that got in the way of this one?? It was strong, tough, and devilishly stylish. What was it  _ lacking? _

She stared at the small pool of coffee left in the stained white mug Mechanica had brought. It was cold now. She needed some time to clear her head, yes, that’d help...

She left her office and locked the door behind her, before turning down the hallway and taking the stairs to the vault below, figuring it’d be worth checking on Mechanica’s progress. There were a few other staff members present down here now, running all sorts of tasks and search for all manner of equipment.

“Evening.” Coyle mumbled, a little drowsy from the lack of progress on her own end. “How’s archiving going?”

“Well enough...” Mechanica shrugged, sat at the desk by the wall with a large notebook before her. “It’s a bit  _ boring _ but...”

“Mm, some things always are.” Coyle returned. “Just make sure you get the serial numbers right or Springtron won’t be able to find things properly.” She flicked her eyes to the stack of nearby boxes, where Springtron sat atop the highest box. “I really should have made you  _ smarter. _ ” She glared at him.

Springtron glared back without a word.

Coyle pouted, before turning back to Mechanica. “ _ Anyway, _ keep up the good work. It’ll be good to-”

She paused. Mechanica stared at the pages ahead of her for a moment, before she actually realized Coyle had stopped _. _ She turned to look up at her and saw her staring somewhere at the nearby wall. Mechanica followed her line of sight, and then noticed Coyle to be staring at- ... _ Uh-oh. _

Coyle bit her lip, then slowly walked over to the small red star bow that had been stuck to the wall. She turned in place, now facing the room, where many workers were continuing as normal. She cleared her throat and spoke up. “ _ ATTENTION... _ ”

The workers stopped and turned her way, many of them noticing what Coyle was about to bring up, and tensing themselves for it. Mechanica squeezed her pen tightly.

Coyle pointed at the star bow. “I thought I made it  _ very _ clear to you all that there were to be NO Christmas decorations in MY Lab.  _ Was that not clear enough? _ ” She ripped the starbow off of the wall. “ **NO CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS IN! MY! LAB!** ” She frothed at the mouth. “I don’t know WHICH of you brain-dead monkeys thought that was a rule you could skirt around with even something small, but I know for certainty that you do  _ not _ want me to find out who of you it was.”

The room was deathly silent. Everyone froze as still as they could, hoping that Coyle wouldn’t single them out for anything if they didn’t draw attention to themselves. Like standing still in front of the T-rex in Jurassic Park.

She exhaled deeply. “If any of you want a  _ Christmas _ tomorrow I am more than happy to fire you this instant so you can go back to your ugly families and spend the holiday with them  _ incomeless. _ ” She cracked her neck. “But the rest of you better keep this place free of any and all Christmas-related garbage ‘til Spring rolls around. Am I understood...?”

A chorus of “ _ Yes Dr. Coyle. _ ” echoed through the room.

She shivered a little, trying to release all that sudden pent-up anger. The thought of one of her underlings directly trying to disobey her - on a holiday she  _ despised, _ no less - made her blood boil. Without another word, Coyle left to return to her office. She was sick of seeing other people for the day.

After she was a decent ways away again, Spring Man turned to face the somewhat shaken Mechanica. “...Do you want me to keep playing the Christmas radio?”

She shook her head slowly.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was just about 11pm now. Coyle was still hunched over her blueprints - she had made a couple more changes, then scratched them out, then made a couple more in their place. It still wasn’t quite to her liking. Why couldn’t she get it to click right?? Was it too clunky or something?

Mechanica’s usual knock came on the door again. She gave an approving grunt and the young engineer came through once more, again holding a fresh coffee to be sat on her desk.

“Done for the night?” Coyle picked up the coffee and took a sip. She could feel a chip in the mug below her lip. Her tendency to throw the nearest thing to her when she got angry really did her a disservice sometimes. Pretty much all her mugs were in bad condition now.

Mechanica nodded, her backpack slung over her shoulder. “So I’ll be back on the  _ twenty sixth... _ ”

“Yeah yeah, that’s fine...” Coyle mumbled, looking at her blueprints once more. “Have a nice night or whatever.”

Mechanica stayed in place for a moment, a little hesitant, before she quietly pulled her bag closer and reached into it. “I-I know you don’t  _ like _ Christmas, b-but...” She removed a small rectangular present wrapped in shiny gold wrapping paper.

Coyle glared at her. “ _ No. _ ”

She extended her arm forward, offering it to her anyway. “I-It’s not much, but-”

“I said  _ no, _ Mechanica.” She reaffirmed. “I’m not accepting any presents.”

“N-Not even from me...?” She replied sadly.

“I didn’t  _ ask _ for anything and I don’t  _ want  _ anything.” Coyle glared. “You weren’t even my Secret Santa.”

“B-But-”

“ _ No. _ ” Coyle looked back to her blueprints and tapped her pen on the Hedlok’s forehead.

Mechanica frowned, feeling defeated. She quietly opened the door again and stood in the doorway, her hand on the knob. “...Merry Christmas, Coyle...”

She looked up to give another glare, but Mechanica had shut the door.  _ Ugh. _ She’d tolerate this from her, but only for so long. At least she had the decency to only try this holiday garbage in  _ private _ with her. If she tried this kinda thing in front of the other workers, well, maybe she’d have to-

Coyle tapped the pen harder on the blueprints. The roadblock in her mind was beginning to  _ really  _ frustrate her. If she could figure this stupid thing out soon then maybe she could have a working version by tomorrow - hell, she could go and ruin Christmas for  _ everyone! _ Maybe then  _ no one _ would bother celebrating this stupid holiday anymore. Ugh.

She leant back in her chair. Lola’s words echoed in her head -  _ a bit of a Grinch? _ Yeah, that  _ was _ sounding pretty accurate to her now. She didn’t actually want to ruin Christmas for anyone. At least not if they were keeping it to themselves and not trying to drag her into it all. Besides, the Hedlok would never be ready after only a day. And certainly not at this rate, with how little luck she’d been having trying to get the blueprints right.

Well, on the bright side, if it took another 24 hours to fix this design then maybe she could pass over Christmas completely without ever having to pay attention to it... At least until the next time she sees  _ anyone _ , where they’ll no doubt be spewing stories about what they got, or what their ugly kids got, or what they did for Christmas... Bleh. What a stupid,  _ stupid _ holiday.

She leant forward again, taking the coffee mug in hand and going for a big swig. Just  _ looking _ at this design angered her - it seemed to be  _ better _ than her, like it had  _ defeated _ her. She considered throwing the mug in fury, but thought better of it, if only to save another mug from her dwindling supply. She’d need to remind Mechanica tomorrow to make an order for some new ones...  _ Ugh, _ except that Mechanica wouldn’t even  _ be _ there tomorrow!  _ Stupid _ holiday... Stupid... Holiday...

After so much Christmas frustration and design roadblock headaches, it seems Coyle had worn herself down a fair bit. And with that nice and soothing warm coffee running through her... It wasn’t long before she’d fallen asleep at her desk.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She pulled her head up from the hard wood of the desk below, her cheek sore where it had been laying flat against it. Her head felt all groggy - where was she, again? ...Ah, her office. Of course... Why wouldn’t she be here?

But where were... The walls? It was nothing but darkness stretching out in all directions... Only her desk and the checkered tile floor beneath her remained. That wasn’t right, surely? And yet she didn’t feel all that concerned... Just kinda  _ mellow. _ Like you get when you’re half asleep still.

She squinted her eyes forward. They were blurry but in the process of clearing. It helped to blink a fair bit. Out in front of her now... Her door was gone, as was the wall it lay on. But the doorframe was still there. Just a bare rectangle in the darkness now.

A wet mashing sound quietly echoed in the distance. Something akin to a wet paper towel gently slapping at a window... It was getting louder, too.

A familiar green gloop of a person stuck his head through the empty doorframe. Coyle wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Hnn... Helix?” She grunted. “What do you want? It’s bedtime...”

Helix wobbled in place in front of her, simply staring at her with the usual dumb look he had on his face.

Coyle gave a great long yawn. “Helix... Time to go to b-”

“Yooooooooouuuu...” Helix blubbed out slowly, in a long-drawn out fashion.

Coyle paused, squinting at him - now not in an attempt at clearing her vision, but out of faint surprise. It almost sounded like he said ‘you’. That’s funny...

His round pink lips began to move again. “Youuuuu... Will be viiiiisistedddd...”

She could feel her shoulders raise in surprise. “Did you just-” Her mouth hung open a little. Those were definitely  _ words. _

“Youuuuuuu will be viiiisiteddddddddd!” Helix repeated. “By threeeeeeeeeeeeeee ghostttttttttttttttttts!~” He finished.

His words didn’t even really register with her beyond that he was  _ talking _ to some recognisable degree. He could have said anything, really. Just the image of him talking, in  _ any _ capacity, was utterly mind-blowing.

Helix continued to stare at her wide-eyed at her - or at least as wide-eyed as his visual display would allow him to be - for about another thirty seconds or so, and then, just as suddenly as he had arrived, he turned around and began to leave again.

“W-Wait, Helix, no!” Coyle called out.

He didn’t listen., and soon he was was out of sight. The wet flopping noise of his steps grew quieter and quieter in the distance until they silenced out altogether. She was alone again.

She looked down at her desk, still stuck in a stunned silence. What was it he said, again...? She couldn’t even remember... It was too hard to focus. She was too tired, hell, she was feeling even more tired than she’d been when she woke up.... More and more... Tir.... Tired.......

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The numbness in her cheek was worse this time around. She brought her head up again slowly, once again trying to get her bearings. She was in her office, yes... And the walls - the walls were there! ...Well, of course they would be. It’d be silly if they weren’t...

She stretched back slightly, with a short groan. That was  _ some _ dream. The thought of Helix making coherent sentences... Ha! Not in her lifetime, that’s for sure.

A long and rather deep yawn escaped her. Stupid blueprints... Going in circles for so long must have tired her out. Is  _ that _ what she’s become? An old-timer who can’t help but fall asleep at her desk? She hadn’t done that since her college days, back before she became the force to be reckoned with she was known for. Back before she became Dr. Coyle... Back before...

“Back before you had such a  _ disdain _ for Christmas, perhaps?” Came a strikingly familiar voice from close behind her.


	3. The Ghost of Spring Man Past

Coyle jumped out of her seat, partially from the fright she’d been given, and partially out of prior conditioning on how to react when she’d been snuck up on. She flipped around quickly, backing herself up against the desk as her now empty seat spun around in circles. Her ARMS raised up in a fight-ready stance, but lowered somewhat after Coyle realized just who her newfound company  _ was. _

“... _ Spring Man?! _ ” She grunted, squinting.

“Spring Man  _ the First, _ yes!” The young man before her chuckled. “The original, you might say.”

Before the plucky blue-haired lad Coyle tolerated joined the ARMS League was a similar man with a swirled green goatee. That man was the  _ second _ Spring Man, who later left Spring Gym representation in the League to the one Coyle had seen at the Christmas party earlier that day: the  _ third _ Spring Man.

But before  _ both _ of them was the very first person to take the name ‘Spring Man’ - a man with curled red hair coming down in many small spirals. Of course, in  _ modern  _ times those curls were far whiter than they’d been in his prime - he was an old man now. He had already been rather old when Coyle first met him, during a League party she attended with Brass some time twenty or so years ago. But the Spring Man standing before her now... This was him back in his  _ youth _ . Right back when he joined the League in the first place.

Coyle shook her head, trying to focus on the fact an  _ intruder _ had just broken into her office. “Just what the  _ hell _ are you doing here?!”

“Hm?” He cocked his head to one side. “Well whatcha think I’m here for?! It’s  _ Christmas! _ ”

“I  _ hate _ Christmas.” Coyle grunted through her teeth.

“Yeah, and that’s why I’m here!” He grinned, standing proud with his hands on his hips. “I’m your very own Ghost of Christmas Past!”

“What the  _ hell _ are you talking about?!” She glared sharply. “How did you get in here? And how the hell are you so  _ young? _ ”

He shook his head, disappointed. “I expected better from you, Tess. Don’tcha know a classic when you see one?”

“Do  _ not _ call me Tess.” She glared harder.

“A  _ Christmas _ classic, darling.” He added.

She held her glare for a moment, then her eyes softened somewhat. Those words her dream of Helix had said to her... Three  _ ghosts? _ And now the first Spring Man had popped up out of nowhere, calling himself ‘The Ghost of Christmas Past’...

Spring Man #1 smirked as he watched Coyle put her hand to her face, shutting her eyes in disbelief as she did so. “Ya picked it up, eh?”

“ _...A Christmas Carol. _ ” She mumbled.

“Bingo.”

She pulled her hand from her face, glaring at him again. “And who’s idea was this?”

“Hm?” He cocked his head again.

“Why are you and Helix and  _ whoever _ setting all this stupid stuff up? I mean, I don’t even know  _ how _ you got Helix to-” She blinked. “Well, no, that was a  _ dream... _ So I’m not sure how you managed to  _ influence _ my dream to-”

“Yeesh! You’ve really not changed at all, have ya?” He chuckled. “Quit lookin’ for logic and live in the moment. We’re here to kick the Christmas spirit right back into ya!”

She stared at him. “...One dream. This is all just one dream! I’m asleep right now. All that Christmas garbage throughout my past few weeks has kicked all of this into effect. That Helix  _ thing _ was just a sub level of this dream, and-”

“ _ Coyle. _ ” He pouted.

She pouted right back. “I don’t  _ need _ Christmas spirit. Nobody does. What benefit would that serve to  _ anyone? _ Why can’t you bother someone who  _ loves  _ the stupid holiday instead?”

Spring Man #1 shrugged lightly. “That’s not how the story goes. You’re our Scrooge figure here, so you’re coming along for the ride. That’s simply how it is.”

“I’m not interested in-”

“Enough!” He interrupted loudly, waving his hands. “Yeesh, all this bickering back and forth is gonna age me back up before you can say ‘bah humbug’. Let’s get to some  _ Christmas past _ already!”

“I don’t want-” Coyle stopped suddenly as the office around them began to swirl around like a whirlwind, with the two of them stood safely in the eye. The wind coursed around rapidly until it began to slow once more, and then Coyle found herself in the living room of a small family home back in the late Sixties or so.

“There we are~” He chuckled. “Look familiar to you?”

Coyle ran her eyes across the rather outdated furniture. “...My old home. My  _ parents’  _ home, I mean.” She paused, then quickly corrected herself. “ _ Romana’s _ parents’ home.”

“Hoo boy...” Spring Man #1 sighed, taking a curious look around himself. “Dr. Threasa Romana, scientific prodigy turned chief of the ARMS Lab...” He flicked his eyes back to her. “...Turned  _ you. _ ”

She smirked spitefully. “Big improvement.” She resented her younger self wholeheartedly. To be associated to her in any way - even by name alone - was enough to really grind at her gears.

He didn’t smile back. “Why such a  _ disdain _ for her, Coyle? She accomplished so much.”

“She was a coward and a crybaby. A  _ pathetic _ excuse for a leader. The ARMS Lab deserved  _ far _ better than her.”

“She may have had some difficulty holding authority, sure, but she was damn well  _ dedicated. _ A tireless worker through n’ through, ain’t that worth some respect?” Spring Man #1 quietly look a seat on the rather dainty sofa.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree.” Coyle glared.

“Tell me, Coyle... Why do you act as if you and Romana aren’t the same person?”

“Because we  _ aren’t. _ ” She insisted quickly.

“You have all her memories. You lived through every moment of her life. You inherited her body, her belongings, her knowledge and desires and ambitions...”

“Oh  _ shut it. _ ” She bitterly grunted. “I have more in common with  _ Kid Cobra  _ than I do with Romana. When I look back on any of those pathetic memories I feel  _ nothing _ \- do you get that? We are  _ not _ the same person. Not in the  _ slightest. _ ” She exhaled deeply, trying to calm herself. “And I  _ really  _ don’t think I need to reassess my opinion of Romana. You can’t make me budge on that.”

He smiled softly. “Alright. Well, we’re here for something specific, so I guess we’ll skip forward to it...”

The dull early morning light from between the curtains seemed to flicker somewhat, as if time were speeding up around them, with days passing by in an instant. Coyle blinked, and when her eyes reopened she found the whole room decked out in tacky Christmas decorations, with a great big tree taking center-stage.

“Christmas mornin’!” Spring Man #1 grinned. “This how you remember it?”

“...Yes.” She could feel her heart starting to thump a little harder in her chest. She hadn’t seen this room, or those decorations, or that  _ tree _ in decades... It all felt so unbelievably nostalgic, if a little  _ smaller _ than she remembered...

“There are plenty presents under the tree, though none are addressed to ‘Dr. Coyle’.” He chuckled.

Coyle could hear the stairs creak over in the hallway - that  _ familiar _ creak the second and third steps from the top used to always make. The footsteps were quick and light -  _ excited _ , if anything - and were followed by double that were slower and more relaxed.

“Don’t worry.” Spring Man #1 shrugged, leaning back on the sofa. “They won’t be able to see us. I could make them, if you wanted. But that’d be a pretty confusing scenario, I reckon.”

A small girl, only perhaps around 6 or 7, dashed into the room and skidded onto the knees of her pyjama pants. Her long blonde hair flowed over her shoulders as she reached her arms under the tree and pulled a present to her lap, a big bright smile on her face.

“Hold on now, hold on now!” Came a male voice from the hall, as Romana’s parents followed. “Let’s get all settled in before ya go opening presents! Mama’s gonna put some coffee on.”

The little girl pouted. “Grossssss!”

“Maybe a hot chocolate is more her style?” The mother replied in a sweet voice, to which the young girl grinned brightly.

“Take me back.” Coyle muttered quietly. Spring Man #1’s attention turned away from the tight-knit family and centered back on Coyle, who was now facing the wall with her hands over the sides of her eyes. “I don’t want to do this.  _ Take me back. _ ”

“I thought you weren’t the same person?” Spring Man #1 looked down at the young Romana again. “What does it matter to you if you watch this  _ stranger’s _ past?”

A hearty groan came from Coyle. “I am going to  _ murder _ you.” She muttered, before slowly twisting around and pressing her back to the wall she had been staring into. Her eyes, staring firmly  _ away _ from the child, seemed redder... Somewhat shaky, even.

“What did she get that Christmas?” Spring Man #1 asked in a rather genuinely curious tone, his eyes firmly on the large wrapped box sitting on the young Romana’s lap.

“How the hell should I know?!” Coyle grunted through her teeth. Her eyes flicked to the stupid kid sitting by the-

Her bitter snarl fell slowly. She could feel an image fill her head again - a view from the girl’s perspective, looking down at the pink-and-blue striped box as she awaited her parents’ approval to open it. It was a memory she hadn’t thought back to for  _ decades. _ The folds in the wrapping paper, the fingerprint ridden tape holding it all together... And it was more than just an image, too. She could feel the weight of the box on her lap. The bite of her tooth on her lip. The pounding of her heart in her chest.

Coyle stared down at the eager yet patient child. She remembered exactly what she got this year. Exactly what was in that very box, even. “...A microscope.” She mumbled back at the ghost, her voice a little shaken.

“That’s a funny gift for a six year old girl.” Spring Man #1 quietly, and unprovokingly, replied.

She nodded slowly - almost noticeably. “I was never into dolls o-or Easy-Bake Ovens... Only ever wanted to learn.” The image in her head went on further. She remembered how it felt to finally open it. To see what was inside. She remembered hugging it tightly, thanking her parents endlessly... And then they told her  _ they _ weren’t the ones to thank. And so she checked the label again...

“...From ‘Santa’?”

She nodded again, just as slowly. “I never  _ actually _ believed in Santa, of course. I just...” She bit her lip. She knew she was lying.

Spring Man #1 leaned forward somewhat on the sofa. “What about  _ this _ Christmas?”

Lights began to flicker again. The wind crept up in harsh sweeps, until everything had changed just  _ slightly. _ The decorations were arranged somewhat differently. The tree was pushed a bit closer to the window. The little girl had new pyjamas, and the present on her lap was almost spherical.

“...I don’t want to do this.” Coyle muttered, looking away again. “I don’t know what you’re trying to  _ prove, _ but I don’t want to do this.”

“She sure seems to love Christmas.” Spring Man #1 sighed, hunched forward as he watched the now slightly older child feel around the present’s smooth surface.

“That doesn’t change  _ anything... _ ” Coyle grunted.

“I just want to know what happened.” He shrugged quietly.

Coyle let out a small laugh, a taste of spite present in it. “You  _ know _ what happened. That child  _ is not me! _ ” She folded her ARMS tightly and stared back at the wall. “ _ Romana’s  _ past doesn’t mean a  _ thing _ to me. She could love this dumb holiday as much as she wanted - what’s it  _ matter? _ ”

“Alright.” Spring Man #1 shrugged. “I’ll give you the footnotes...” Wind began to fly all around as the room flipped between several Christmases next in line. “So that there was a globe. Then, at age ten, your first robotics kit... Age twelve, your first telescope... Age sixteen you surprise your parents with presents for  _ them... _ Age nineteen is your first Christmas away from home... Age twenty three is your first Christmas while in a relationship...”

Coyle watched as portions of her past flipped by like a slideshow, with no frame quite long enough to really let her delve into those emotions fully again. Each was like a punch to the heart, no matter how she tried to ignore it. Every familiarly wrapped box, every aging wrinkle in her mother’s face, every tiny scrap of holiday decoration scattered around...

The speed-up stopped. “Ah! Now, isn’t  _ this _ interesting?” Spring Man #1 smirked. “Not your house... Not your college dorm... Not your apartment...” He looked all around the warmly lit and beautifully decorated sitting room. “But this must be  _ somewhere _ in your past, right?”

Coyle moved her eyes to glare at him, but before they could fully form a squint she found them opening again. The strong scent of gingerbread had hit her nose.

“Mmmm, that’s coming from the kitchen, isn’t it?” Spring Man #1 licked his lips. “What’s cookin’?” He walked over to the kitchen past the open knock-through to find yet another familiar woman in a similarly well-decorated kitchen, looking intently through the window on the oven as she whistled  _ Walking in a Winter Wonderland. _

“...I was making cookies...” Coyle mumbled, slowly coming to the kitchen’s entrance herself. “They came out  _ terrible... _ But I still made Brass eat ‘em all.” She smiled nostalgically. There was something warm about that memory. Maybe because she wasn’t force-feeding them to Brass to be cruel - he was eating them of his own volition, trying to pass off that he liked them, even though she knew he didn’t. It was a very husband-y thing for him to do, really.

“Your hair s’not quite as  _ blonde _ ...” Spring Man #1 observed. This Coyle had already had her hair dyed. She already had her ARMS....

Coyle -  _ our _ Coyle, from the present day - gave something of a sad look toward the woman by the oven. It was  _ her. _ Even by her own distinction. There was no passing her off as being Romana because this was  _ after _ that separation occurred.

“...Dr. Coyle, rife with Christmas spirit.” Spring Man #1 smirked gently, looking at her with something of pride in his eyes. “So much so, in fact, that you gave your whole Lab crew time off for Christmas!” He turned in place, back to face her. “Quite different to the attitude you have now.”

She looked at him with an unusual look of  _ uncertainty. _ She wasn’t really sure how to explain this. Her usual excuses didn’t really cut it.

The wind kicked up again. The lovely warm home flickered into the bleaker Lab she was so familiar with. The stupid crack by the north-west corner of the conference room wasn’t present, so that pointed the current timeframe to being roughly... Mm.

The two stood in a crowd of Lab workers as a somewhat younger Coyle addressed them from the front of the room, insisting that there were to be  _ no _ Christmas decoration put up this year  _ or so help her! _

“Bit of a one-eighty.” Spring Man #1 mumbled.

“No kidding.” Coyle quietly agreed.

“This...” He bit his lip. “...This  _ is _ the year following your divorce from Brass. I take it that has something to do with this?”

She laughed a little. “No no... Wrong way around.”

“....Hm?” Spring Man #1 looked toward her.

Coyle kept her eyes pointed toward her somewhat younger self, watching the command and fear she sought to impose on all her workers echo through her words. “I left Brass for the same reason, I guess, that I turned away from Christmas.”

“...And that would be?”

She shrugged weakly. “I wanted to leave that life behind.”

“...You wanted to leave  _ Romana _ behind.” He nodded slowly. “Now I get it... It was all just to further help separate the two of you.”

“Bingo.” She nodded, before her slick purple lips slowly curved into a smile. “...And it worked. Bye bye Brass, bye bye Christmas...  _ Bye bye Romana. _ ”

Spring Man #1 looked at her solemnly. “Why are you so eager to distance yourself from her?”

Coyle snorted. “Should be obvious enough. She was a  _ loser. _ She was a pathetic crybaby with no future.”

“ _ She was a hard worker and did plenty to further ARMS research. _ ” He rebutted.

She cocked her head toward him, her glare back, now matched with that smug smile. “She was a  _ waste. _ Good riddance to her.”

Spring Man #1 sighed deeply, just as the wind began to spin again. “I really hope the other ghosts can get through to you, Coyle. I really do.”

Coyle looked around - back in her office now, it seemed. “... _ Other _ ghosts?”

“There’s gotta be three, right?” He shrugged. “It’s been fun being your Ghost of Christmas Past, but it’s time for me to hand you over to the  _ Present _ .”

“No-no-no-no-no-no-no!” Coyle insisted quickly. “No no, just  _ wake me up  _ or whatever! I do  _ not _ want to continue this stupid ordeal.”

Spring Man #1 smiled brightly. “Have fun, Coyle!” He put up his hand and began to wave goodbye.

“No!!” Coyle moved toward him, but he faded out into nothingness. “ _ DAMN IT! _ ”  
  
Just then, an even more familiar voice called out from before her. “Oh man, am  _ I _ the Ghost of Christmas Present? That’s so cool!”


	4. The Ghost of Spring Man Present

Coyle turned slowly to the source of the voice behind her and came face-to-face with a familiar bright face that she  _ really _ hated. “ _ You... _ ” She grunted through her teeth.

“Makes sense, right?” The present-day Spring Man smiled back.

“I’m about to beat you to a  _ pulp. _ ” She glared, all too prepared to pounce him and start pummeling.

“O-Okay, settle down!!” He raised his hands defensively with a nervous laugh.

“Why the  _ hell _ are YOU here?!” She grunted again.

“H-Huh? A-As the Ghost of Christmas Present!” He stammered.

“The Ghost of the Past was the  _ first _ Spring Man. Where’s the  _ second? _ ” She exhaled deeply, trying to steady herself.

“U-Uh, I guess he won’t be coming tonight...? Maybe he’ll be the one for the future, b-but I don’t really see how that’d fit...”

She put a hand to her face. “So I’m stuck with  _ you _ for now?”

“‘F-’Fraid so...!” He quietly laughed, a little unnerved. “S-So... Should we get started?”

Coyle gave a long and drawn-out sigh. “Y’know there  _ is _ no ‘Christmas present’ for me, right? I’m not celebrating the stupid holiday. If you think showing me an ordinary work day tomorrow is gonna make me  _ learn _ anything, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Well, sure,  _ you _ don’t celebrate Christmas... But your friends still do!”

Coyle opened her mouth to denounce the notion of her having ‘friends’, but stopped short as the wind kicked up again. They were soon in Min Min’s apartment, where she and Ribbon Girl were sat cozily drinking hot chocolate while watching a classic Christmas film.

“So, here you have Ribs and Min...” Spring Man #3 began. “This is their Christmas set for tomorrow. Seems pretty comfy, right? Obviously, like with the first Spring Man, the people we see won’t be able to see us unless you ask me t-”

“This is what they’re doing  _ right now? _ ” Coyle interrupted, leaning down to get far too close of a look at Ribbon Girl’s hair ribbons.

“Huh? Oh, uh, no - this is what they’ll be doing tomorrow at aboutttt.... Half ten?” He replied.

She stood up straight again, glaring unamused at him. “So you’re the Ghost of Christmas  _ Future? _ ”

“H-Huh?”

“This is their future. This is what they’ll be doing tomorrow, which _ hasn’t happened yet. _ ”

“W-Well yeah, but-”

“Show me what they’re doing  _ right now. _ ” She insisted, folding her ARMS.

He stood for a second, biting his lip as his eyes moved around the room. “U-Ummm... Th-They’re... Busy? I-I don’t think it’d-”

“ _ Actually, _ ” Coyle interrupted again. “You’re supposed to show me  _ my _ past, present, and future - right? Show me  _ my _ present.”

He blinked a few times, then sighed. The wind kicked up again and they were back in the office they’d just left a few moments ago - except now a slumbering Coyle was hunched over the desk.

“Ah!” Her eyes lit up. “I  _ am _ just dreaming! This is all just a stupid dream. Or a  _ nightmare, _ even.”

“I-I mean, it’s more of an  _ informative _ ... Uhhh...  _ Visitation? _ Th-That happens while you’re asleep...”

“Where are  _ you _ right now? Also asleep?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, no, I’m chowing down on pizza.” The wind spun quicker than usual, and they were suddenly beside Spring Man’s living room sofa, where he sat eating a fresh slice as he too watched some Christmas films. “I usually don’t go to bed for a few more hours, so-”

“How are you here if you’re not asleep, then?” She bent down toward the relaxed champ-in-training, and then swiftly swung her fist through his face. His body dispersed like coloured fog as the whole illusion shimmered, before it all reconstituted again.

“This is, like...” Spring Man #3 put his hand to his forehead. “L-Look, I dunno exactly how all this works, but it’s like a  _ spiritual  _ thingy? Like a dream but a  _ special _ one, and-”

“I wanna talk to him.” She stood again.

“...What?”

“You said I could let them be able to see me. Or the first Spring Man said that, at least.” She pointed to the seated fighter. “I want him to be able to see us.”

Spring Man #3 sighed deeply. “Can we please just get back on track?”

She glared at him, and with an uncomfortable groan from her companion spirit, the seated Spring Man suddenly turned his head toward her. “Hwha-th?” He mumbled through the pizza in his mouth, before gulping it down. “C-Coyle?? How did you get into-” His head snapped toward the spirit quickly. “I-Is that  _ me?! _ ”

Coyle smirked. “I’ve come from the future to give you a warning -  _ Max Brass will have a heart attack in his sleep tonight at exactly 4am unless  _ **_you_ ** _ stop it! _ You’ll have to break into his penthouse and wake him up, but he’s a heavy sleeper so you’ll need to REALLY jump him.”

“I-I-I-I whaaaa-??” Spring Man stammered.

“Okay, okay, enough!” Spring Man #3 groaned as everything in the illusion suddenly froze. “ _ None of that will carry over to the real world.  _ Can we  _ please _ get back on track?”

Coyle rolled her eyes. “Seeing Ribbing and Mindy - or  _ whatever  _ they’re names are - having a ‘so fun’ Christmas isn’t going to make me feel anything other than nauseous. Do we  _ have _ to do this?”

“Well, they were just an example. Instead, how about we take a look attttt....” The wind kicked up quickly again, until they both appeared in the bedroom of Mechanica’s warehouse, where the young engineer was just setting some things aside for the next day.

“...So this is how she lives, huh?” Coyle looked around. “...Hold on. You can spy on her when she’s getting ready for bed?”

“Mmhmm.” He shrugged.

She gave him a  _ very _ piercing glare.

“...O-OH! N-No no no, not like  _ that! _ ” He panted. “Seriously, I-I’ve never even come here before, I-I don’t even usually have these Christmas power things! I-I don’t even  _ exist _ outside of this dream y-you’ve just started having, a-and even if I did-”

“ _ Why is she getting in bed? _ ” Coyle interrupted loudly, tired of his stammering. “Shouldn’t she be  _ getting up? _ ”

“O-Oh, we’re here a little early.” He shrugged. “We’ll skip forward in a bit, I just wanted to show off her decorations first. Whatcha think?”

Coyle peered around. All manner of tinsel and holly littered the walls, while little Christmas baubles and paper cutouts of snowmen and reindeer dotted along each surface. Even the race car themed bunk bed Mechanica was just now slipping into had Christmas bed sheets strewn over the blankets and pillows.

“Lil thing  _ loves _ Christmas.” He commented, somewhat sadly.

“...It’s a lot of rather  _ pointless _ work. Is anyone even going to see all this?”

“Nope.” He shrugged. “Just did it for herself.” The wind began to spin again, clouding their view of the surrounding area. “We’ll get to her Christmas day in a moment, but let’s take a look back for a sec at the last day...”

Coyle found herself stood in the circle made by herself and her peers back at the Secret Santa exchange earlier that day. “...So you’re the Ghost of Christmas  _ past, _ now?” She remarked. “You sure seem to do anything  _ but _ the present.” Kid Cobra had just sat down following the handing of his gift to Ribbon Girl.

“I’m sure you remember what happened, right?” Spring Man #3 sighed as the illusion-Coyle rolled her eyes and got up from her seat.

“Yeah yeah, they didn’t like the trash I gave him. Which I didn’t expect them to -  _ it was trash. _ I really don’t care.”

“ _ She _ didn’t seem to like it, though.” Spring Man #3 crouched down beside Mechanica, looking at her hurt expression closely. “Musta been hard for her to watch.”

Coyle pouted. “Big deal. S’not like I gifted that to  _ her. _ ”

“Sure.” Spring Man #3 prodded the now empty box that lay on the illusion-Mechanica’s lap, admiring the small bow Springtron had stuck to the top of it. “But let’s watch how Mechanica’s day went from  _ here... _ ”

The room around them began to speed up rapidly as everyone moved at a lightning-quick pace. Illusion-Coyle left the room hurriedly, then everyone packed away their things and began to mingle more, as many of them went right back to the snack table.

“Lil quicker...” Spring Man #3 mumbled. “Just wanna catch her as she’s about to arrive at...” Mechanica walked through the door of the Lab just as Spring Man #3 began to slow things down again. She greeted the other workers warmly, removed a few small wrapped presents from her backpack to hand to a certain few of them, she hung up her sweet new leather jacket to one side...

“Why are we-”

“Shh!” Spring Man #3 interrupted, earning him a glare from Coyle. She quietly vowed to make the  _ real _ Spring Man pay for that. “Right here!” Spring Man #3 pointed as Mechanica approached the wall by her desk. She reached a hand into her pocket and quietly placed something against the-

Coyle’s face fell. That small red star bow she had found earlier...

“...Was put there by Mechanica, yes. What a twist!” Spring Man smiled. “You were so caught up in your anger that I don’t think you even  _ looked _ at her throughout that whole outburst.” Things sped up again for a few short moments until illusion-Coyle had arrived in the room and noticed the bow. “Check out how  _ this _ made her feel.”

The illusion-Coyle removed the star bow and called the room’s attention. Coyle watched as Mechanica’s face froze in uncomfortable fear as her boss unknowingly derided her in front of her peers, her eyes beginning to water more and more as- “Okay,  _ stop _ .”

Spring Man #3 froze everything as he turned back to her. Coyle had her back turned now as she covered her face.

“ _ I don’t want to watch this. _ ”

“I think it’s important you do.”

“It’s  _ out of context. _ ” She grunted, though clearly a little disturbed. “If I had  _ known _ it was her who put it up, I wouldn’t have reacted in  _ quite _ the way I did. At least not  _ as _ severely...”

Spring Man #3 sighed deeply. “I need you to see what the effect your Christmas-hating actions are having on the people you care about. I need you to see how it makes-”

“ _ Simmer down. _ ” She grunted, with a light sniffle, as she turned back to face him. “I didn’t mean to inadvertently single her out like that and make it  _ personal. _ But all the same, it’s just one  _ minor _ incident and it doesn’t mean I ‘ruined’ her Christmas or anything. You saw the decorations in her bedroom! She has  _ plenty _ to go home to, I’m sure this wasn’t a big deal.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “Let’s cut back to her place, then.” The wind swept up again, yadda yadda, until the Lab became bedroom once more. The sun was peering cooly through the curtains, and Mechanica was just stepping down from her bed’s ladder.

“She’s smiling!” Coyle pointed out, a little relieved. “See?”

“Mmhmm, she’s excited it’s Christmas!” Mechanica sped up a little bit, just to show her route through the day, as she made herself some chocolate milk, turned the radio on, and went to nab some presents under her small Christmas tree. “She has a few extra gifts from Ribbon Girl, Min Min, Mummy, Kay-Cee...”

Mechanica, happy with the things she unwrapped, poured herself some cereal and curled up on the sofa with some movies, all at a lightning pace. Coyle didn’t seem to see much  _ wrong  _ here, but she did notice a question raise to her head. “...No visitors?”

“Hm? Oh!  _ No. _ ” He shook his head. “Ribs and Min are having a quiet day in, Mummy’s got his family, everyone else is busy doin’ their own thing... And her dad couldn’t make it in for the holiday. He’s pretty busy, apparently.” 

“Mm.” She pouted quietly. “Still, it doesn’t seem she’s having a  _ bad _ Christmas...”

Time drew back to its usual pace as Mechanica sat cuddled up in a big blanket on her sofa as a Christmas movie played on the TV before her. “Why don’t you take a closer look?”

Coyle moved a little closer and- “...She’s crying?” She mumbled, a little surprised. She looked closer still - it seemed like tears were running down her face, but she wasn’t  _ sobbing. _ It was like she was crying with only her eyes, and the rest of her had missed the que.

“She’s bored.” He shrugged, rather sadly. “She opened up her gifts and, well, then she had nothing to do. That made her feel  _ lonely. _ All alone on Christmas day. Sapped the festivity right outta her.”

Coyle leaned closer, focusing on the young girl’s eyes. She could see the disappointment in them. “B-But she’s watching Christmas movies, isn’t that what she wanted?”

“She feels like Christmas isn’t going how she wanted and she’s ‘wasting’ it. So she’s trying to convince herself that she  _ is _ enjoying Christmas.” He rested his hand atop the TV set. “She feels like she wants to cry, but that’d hurt even worse ‘cause she’d be  _ admitting _ that she’s not having a good Christmas. So she’s just ignoring it.” He turned his eyes back to the girl sat on the sofa. “So it’s only really comin’ out a little bit. For now, at least.”

“...F-For now?” Coyle stammered, looking back at him.

“She wasn’t able to ignore it forever.” He replied solemnly. “...Do you want me to show you?”

“ _ No. _ ” She answered quickly, a little shaken. “ _ God _ no. Absolutely not.”

“Mm.” Spring Man #3 nodded. He paused everything around them - it wasn’t all that long until Mechanica’s point-of-no-return, after all. “Look... Coyle...” He quietly approached her. “This is how her Christmas goes, but it doesn’t  _ have _ to go like this.”

“Mm...” She mumbled, looking down at the floor.

“You can still change it. You can  _ give _ her a better Christmas!”

Coyle closed her eyes, then opened them back up in a glare. She straightened her spine and turned to her. “Why the hell are you bothering  _ me _ with this?”

“Wh-Wha-...?”

“ _ Why aren’t you bothering Ribbon Girl and Min Min?  _  If  _ they _ invited her over, her whole Christmas would be saved! Why do  _ I _ have to be the one?”

“C-Coyle...”

“ _ UGH! _ ” She grunted. “I  _ HATE _ CHRISTMAS! You can’t  _ force _ me to like it!”

“B-But if you just  _ tried _ to, m-maybe just rekindled whatever it was Romana had, th-then all the people you care about-”

“ _ I don’t care about ANYONE! _ ” She spat back. “You’re barking up the wrong damn tree, that ship has  _ long _ since sailed!” She prodded her finger to Spring Man #3’s chest. “ _ Romana _ was the one who cared.  _ I  _ do not care.”

“But you  _ are _ Romana-”

“ _ Say that name one more damn time and I will roast the real Spring Man over an open flame. _ ” Her chest heaved up and down angrily. “You do not speak that name to me, and you sure as all hell do not speak it through  _ those _ lips. Take me back to my office.”

Spring Man #3 stared down at her unhappily, then the office reformed around them. “It doesn’t have to be like this, Coyle. I know you care about Mechanica. I know you care about a  _ lot _ of people - more than you’d ever let on.” She glared daggers back at him. “I really hope you can let go of this silly grudge against Christmas and just learn to enjoy yourself. I think that’d be best for everyone.”

“I think you should get the  _ hell _ out of my sight.” She grunted back quietly.

He gave a small nod, then began to walk toward the back wall. “Good luck, Coyle.  _ Boi-oi-oing. _ ” He began to fade away, and by the time he reached the wall, he was now gone.

Coyle shuddered, letting out a fiery sigh. “That better be the damn end of this.”

“ _ Not quite. _ ” Came a rather more  _ feminine  _ voice behind her. “You and I are just getting started.”


	5. The Ghost of Spring Man Future

Coyle turned again. She didn’t recognise this voice, and she didn’t seem to recognise the associated face either. It was just some woman with violet spring-like ARMS and two large spiraly ponytails.

“My my.” The woman smiled. “Don’t you look...  _ Organic. _ ”

“ _ Excuse me? _ ” She glared back at her. “Who the hell are  _ you _ supposed to be?”

“Spring Man the  _ fourth. _ ” She shrugged. “Or Spring  _ Woman, _ as I tend to prefer.”

“You come after the blue idiot, then...”

Spring Woman nodded. “I won’t even take up ARMS fighting for another few years, so I’m afraid you’re stuck with the third for a while still.”

“ _ Great. _ ” Coyle sighed.

“It might be, actually.” Spring Woman smirked back. “‘Cause  _ I’m _ a lot less willing to put up with your garbage.”

Coyle glared sharply at her. “You sure sound  _ fun. _ I look forward to pummeling you into the pavement - maybe I’ll go find your preschool and get a head start!”

Spring Woman sighed, sitting herself up on the desk. “You always did have such a big mouth. More teeth in it now, though. Well,  _ real _ teeth, at least.”

“Y’know...” Coyle folded her ARMS. “I really wasn’t expecting a  _ woman. _ I was kinda hoping the next Spring Man ghost would be Spring _ tron  _ \- I’ve been meaning to make a whole army of them! Waves and waves of Springtron, all under my control... Now  _ that _ would be a future worth seeing!”

The young woman on the desk looked up at her with an unamused expression. “I almost thought you’d be easier to  _ stand _ a few years further back, but it seems you’re just as revolting as ever, huh? That’s depressing.” She shrugged. “Well, you’ll be glad to know I’m not here to beat around the bush. And hell, I  _ love _ Christmas, but I’ve got bigger fish to fry than just your holiday spirit.  _ Let’s talk about your future. _ ”

“Yes, good!” Coyle grinned, stepping closer to her. “ _ Finally _ . Let’s get this stupid dream finished already. What’s it gonna be, my grave with ‘ _ loved by no one _ ’ carved on the stone?  _ I think I can stomach that. _ ”

Spring Woman snorted. “You think  _ that’s _ where your future’s going? Yeesh. You really  _ are _ emotionally tuned-out.”

“Mmhmm~” Coyle smirked.

Spring Woman glared up at her coldly. “...You put a lot of people in a lot of danger, y’know. With that whole  _ Hedlok _ incident back at Ribbon Girl’s championship fight...”

“Sure did.” Coyle folded her ARMS again.

“And then you made the gold Hedlok. Stronger still, as if the last one wasn’t strong  _ enough. _ And then you went on to make Brightlok. Then Crashlok. Then Echolok. And then even after Arachnilok gets taken out of your control and you  _ yourself _ have to take it down, you  _ still _ don’t learn - do you?”

“ _ Nope. _ ” She grinned back, proud of herself. “I was working on Splitlok that very same night!”

Spring Woman’s mouth curved into a spiteful smile. “You really are just  _ sick _ , aren’t you?” She hopped back to her feet, so she could stand eye-level with Coyle. “Y’know, the Coyle of  _ my _ time just had a runaway incident with  _ Spirelok. _ Two people  _ died. _ ”

“Hm?” Coyle tilted her head, unphased. “And what was ‘Spirelok’, exactly?”

“A Hedlok designed to be  _ impossible to remove. _ ” She grunted back quietly, seething somewhat.

“ _ I’m looking forward to it. _ ” Coyle smiled.

Spring Woman stared back at her unblinking, with an intense hatred in her eyes.

“ _In fact..._ ” Coyle began, rather enjoying the reaction she was getting. “I look forward to _every_ new Hedlok I make from this point on! Every new _disaster_ , every time someone gets _hurt_ or _wounded_ or even _dies_ \- **I look forward to it ALL!** ” She began to grin wider and wider, her voice booming with crazed fury. “ **I’LL WIPE THIS WHOLE STUPID PLANET OFF THE FACE OF THE** ** _EARTH!_** And then, when _I_ am in control, and _I_ am all that’s left? There’ll never be another _Christmas_ ever again. And I’ll beat any man, woman, or _child_ to a sithering _pulp_ if anyone _dare_ mutter that damn word again.”

“...You really are just irredeemably-”

“ **YES!** ” Coyle cut her off quickly and enthusiastically. “I am _everything_ you hate about me and _guess what?_ **I love it!** ” She got right up in Spring Woman’s face. “ _So go ahead -_ ** _show me my future!_** ”

“I  _ am _ showing you.” Spring Woman whispered, starting to smile again with that cockiness had before. “How’s it look?”

Coyle stared straight into her eyes, unsure of what that even  _ meant. _ But then she saw Spring Woman’s eyes move. She wasn’t looking right at her anymore, no, she was looking just slightly... Over... Coyle’s...

Coyle looked over her shoulder and her face fell flat. At the end other end of the room stood a young woman who was shaking in her boots, utterly terrified at what she’d just overheard.

...It was Romana. Coyle’s younger self had watched her present self speak to the fourth Spring Man. Watched as she declared a future of widespread pain and suffering to be a  _ bright _ future. Watched as she took immense joy in the thought of people  _ dying _ by her hand.

“What do you think?” Spring Woman asked, now to the younger woman present. “Does this look like a bright future to you?”

“Th-Th-Th- _ That’s  _ what I  _ become?! _ ” She stammered as tears slipped down her horrified face.

Coyle could only stare back in equal horror. The young scientist had striking golden ARMS, but her hair had not yet been died to the ghoulish green she later adopted, and her whole demeanour was still cowardly and meek compared to what she’d become.

But now she could see it - she could  _ see _ what she’d become, and it  _ horrified _ her. Was  _ this _ the price of ARMS? She’d never have even  _ attempted  _ the process if she’d known  _ this _ is what awaited her.

“This is you in only about 16 years.” Spring Woman filled in. “In  _ my _ time, well...  _ She gets what she asked for. _ At least to an extent.” She walked over to the stunned Romana and stood firmly beside her, an hand on her shoulder. “It’s what she wanted. It’s what  _ you _ will want.”

“I-I-I don’t want this!!” She stammered quickly, turning to Spring Woman. “I-I only ever wanted to make the world  _ better  _ \- n-not  _ this! _ ”

“Ha,  _ well _ , I think betterment dropped in priority long ago for  _ my _ Coyle.” She turned to face the lone woman across the room. “The others seem to think  _ this _ one’s still redeemable. But I don’t buy it.”

Coyle slowly shut her mouth, after it had been hanging for quite some time. She tried to find the words inside her but found herself at a total loss.

“Y’know, Romana..” Spring Woman pat her on the back. “There’s  _ one _ thing your future self defines herself by. Y’wanna know what it is?” She struck her finger out toward Coyle. “ _ She...  _ Wants to be less like _... _ ” Her finger came back at Romana. “ _...You! _ ” She put her hand to her hip again. “Everything you are. Everything you  _ strived _ to be. She wants to get as far away from that as possible!”

“N-No...” Coyle grunted suddenly.

“Ohhhh, no no  _ no _ , I think that’s  _ exactly _ what you were saying earlier!” Spring Woman glared. “You lived in her head for  _ thirty four years _ . You lived every single thought and action she had and made. You felt every hurt and loss and hope and dream. You  _ were _ Romana - and now you look back on her and you feel  _ ashamed. _ ” Spring Woman began to approach Coyle again. “And that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. ‘Cause Romana was ten times the woman you’ll  _ ever _ be. And whether you care about them or not, you know  _ full well _ that every other fighter and worker and ex-husband and child prodigy you know would have prefered Romana  _ so _ much more than what  _ you _ became.”

The Romana behind Spring Woman had frozen shortly after Spring Woman had left her side, and was now fading away into coloured smoke.

“You didn’t break out of the ‘shell’ that was Romana - you  _ are _ the empty shell of what Romana  _ was.  _ And you damn well know it.” The hatred in Spring Woman’s eyes tore through Coyle’s defenses like a knife through butter. “The others think you can  _ change _ . That there’s still hope for you, somehow.  _ But I don’t buy it.  _ I just wanted a chance to tell you how awful you are, no matter what you may do to convince yourself you aren’t.”

Spring Woman turned her back to Coyle.

“You want to keep distancing yourself from Romana? That’s  _ your _ choice. I sure hope you think it’s worth it.” She looked down at the spot where Romana had been standing. “I wonder if she’d agree.” She looked over her shoulder, her violet hair bobbing slightly as her head turned. “ _ Show’s over _ . Merry Christmas.”

Coyle’s head rose from the desk. She blinked rapidly, wiping the drool from her lip. That dream... That look on Romana’s face, that  _ hatred _ in Spring Woman’s voice, that-

She shook her head quickly.  _ No! _ She would  _ not _ dwell on what she’d seen. It was only a dream - a  _ stupid _ Christmas-themed dream with a cliched message, and she wasn’t about to listen to it. No, she’d ignore it as strongly as she could, with  _ all _ of her might - she was  _ not _ Romana! She  _ hated _ Christmas, and that wasn’t going to change now. It wasn’t going to change  _ ever! _

But ignoring it was  _ hard. _ She kept trying to set her mind on something else, but Romana’s horrified expression kept popping right back up. She got up to her feet, desperate to find something else to focus on. She picked up up the coffee mug quickly and put it to her lips, hoping to-  _ Bleh! _ The coffee was cold now...  _ Ugh.  _ Mechanica had already gone home for the night, so she wouldn’t be around to make a fresh-

The image of Mechanica alone for Christmas entered her head. She quickly shot it away with a grunt, before flinging the mug at the far-wall of her office.  _ Stop it, Coyle! _ She insisted to herself.

The blueprints on her desk caught her eye once more. She’d been designing this new Hedlok for so long, but kept coming to a roadblock... But what if... What if it simply wasn’t  _ deadly _ enough?

Her lips curved into a crazed smile.  _ Th-That was it! _ THAT is what was missing! She could strap a more intense lazer gun to the forehead... O-Or even in the  _ eyes!  _ Yes, surely that was what had been missing...

She opened her office door. Her mind kept trying to push the dream back to her head, but she was fighting it off desperately. She figured she could get it to go completely if she took a quick trip to the vault and rummaged around for deadly devices to incorporate - it was certainly worth a shot, at least. And then-

She paused. She had one to close the door to her office and had noticed a colourful box catch her eye from below.

Right by her door lay the present Mechanica had tried to give to her. She’d left it here, even when instructed not to...  _ U-Ugh. _ That... That was a violation of what Coyle had... Had ordered...

She bent down and picked it up, even as she told herself to simply leave it. B-But she’d only picked it up to throw it far across the room, destroying whatever was in-

Once again, against what she believed she was telling herself, she found herself peeling back the corner of it. W-Well, alright, big deal... It’s worth taking a peek anyway, if only to see what garbage the little twerp had thought she’d ‘like’. It was probably not unlike every other Christmas present handed out throughout time - useless trash no one would ever actually  _ want. _

She raised an eyebrow as the wrapping paper came back. What even  _ was _ th-

Coyle froze. She felt a feeling well up inside her - one she hadn’t felt in so  _ very _ long, but that was still instantly recognisable.

Within the present Mechanica had left her was a small box containing three brand new coffee mugs, each with a sleek green and purple colour scheme to them. They were thick and sturdy, just as she liked, and a sticker on the front boasted incredible heat-keeping properties.

Coyle smiled softly as she ran her thumb over the box.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other Lab workers, as instructed, worked in silence within the barren walls of the ARMS Lab. There was no tree, no stockings, no tinsel, and certainly no star bows. To the outside eye it was just any old day at the ARMS Lab - just as instructed.

“ATTENTION!” Coyle called out as she hurried into the room. Everyone immediately froze in place, turning to give full focus to their seemingly agitated boss. “I want  _ everyone  _ to drop what they’re doing this  _ instant _ .” She stood up straight, cracked her neck, and struck a finger out toward a large group of workers on the right-hand side of the room. “I need all of  _ you  _ to go to the 24-hour store down the road and get as much Christmas decorative material as you can.”

The workers she had instructed looked around at each other, unsure if they had heard that right.

She struck her finger to the group in the middle of the room. “All of  _ you _ need to start clearing this place out. We need as much room as we can, this place is gonna be  _ lively _ tomorrow.”

They nodded, somewhat unsure still, and began to push at their desks.  
  
“And now  _ you. _ ” She addressed the last remaining group. “I need one of you to find a  _ tree _ and the rest of you to teach me how to make gingerbread men.”


	6. Merry Christmas, Mechanica

Mechanica awoke to a buzz from her phone. This was distinctly different to how she had planned to awaken this Christmas, which was to an alarm using a Jingle Bells as its alarm tone. The alarm had yet to go off - it was due in about twenty minutes still. What had instead awoken her was...

She groaned. Coyle wants her to come into work...? “Urgent assistance required”?? Come  _ on! _

With another long groan, Mechanica climbed out of bed.  _ Seriously? _ Coyle had said she could have the day off!  _ Ughhhh... _

She made herself a quick bowl of cereal and crunched at it while pouting. This was  _ not _ how she wanted her Christmas to go. How long was she about to be dragged in for?? Coyle  _ better _ not be expecting her for the full day...

Despite a part of her wanting to ignore the text completely - or even defiantly text back with a refusal - Mechanica got herself dressed and began to put on her shoes. She had slipped a Christmas sweat on, and told herself that Coyle would  _ not _ be allowed any remarks about it - not today! Not on  _ her _ Christmas! If this was how she’d have to fight back, this would be how she’d do it.

She considered stopping to open her small pile of presents before leaving, but decided against it - better not to be rushed through it, she thought. She could take her time with it once she got back, which’d  _ hopefully _ not be too long away.

She arrived at the Lab not all too long later, despite her rather unenthused pace. As she passed through the car park it  _ did _ occur to her, however, that the place seemed drastically busier than it usually did. Did Coyle really give  _ no one else _ any time off? But wait, no, this was definitely more than there were even on a  _ full _ day...

Mechanica paused as she walked through the entrance of the Lab. The place was completely  _ drenched _ in Christmas decorations - Santas, reindeer, snowmen, candycanes,  _ no  _ surface was left uncovered. A massive tree stood tall at the back of the room, equally dressed up, while workers chatted among themselves in a rather casual and  _ at ease _ manner around it. Was this even the ARMS Lab?!

“Oh, hey!” Came a familiar voice from nearby. She turned to find her boss - who was unusually dressed  _ in a Christmas sweater _ \- sat on a table chit-chatting with some of the other workers. “Hope I didn’t wake you too early, I know you like a lie in when you can!~”

“C-Coyle...!” Mechanica approached, a little at a loss for words. “This is all... H-How??”

Coyle shrugged her shoulders. “We’ll call it a Christmas miracle. Deal?” She took a sip from the green and purple mug in her hand. “Mm! - Thanks for the mugs, by the way. They’ll be great for coffee, I’m sure, but right now I’m having some eggnog. I  _ totally _ forgot how good this stuff was, but you’ll have to track down whoever made it if you want some ‘cause I’m not sure if it’s alcohol-free,  _ hm.  _ Good stuff, though. Brass used to  _ love _ it.”

“I-I don’t know what to...!” She smiled warmly, still looking all around.

“Just enjoy yourself, s’all that matters!” Coyle took another swig from her mug. “Work continues in January now, by the way. I need a good long break, and I guess everyone else does too. We’ll meet back on the third, ‘kay?”

Mechanica opened her mouth to speak, even though she wasn’t so sure what to say, but cut herself short as she heard her name called out again. She turned to find Ribbon Girl and Min Min - both in suitable sweaters, with the latter wearing her Misangan beanie - beckoning her over. She turned back to Coyle, who simply waved a hand.

“Go have fun! But there’s a present under the tree for you later, so don’t forget.”

“Th-Thank you!” She smiled, walking off with her head still turned to Coyle.

“Merry Christmas, Mechanica.” Coyle nodded.

“M-Merry Christmas, Coyle!!” She called back, ecstatically.

Coyle watched as the young girl skipped over to her friends. She let out a sigh - was this the right thing to do? It... It  _ felt _ right. She wasn’t too quick to take the name ‘Romana’ again, certainly, but... Maybe lightening up a bit wasn’t such a bad idea. It really  _ did _ seem to make everything better for  _ everyone _ .

“...Pretty fun stuff, eh?” A familiar voice chuckled, though somewhat nervously, from behind.

Coyle turned her head, and then  _ glared _ at her ex-husband. And then... And then she dropped that glare and  _ laughed. _ “Yepppp. Looks like everyone’s having fun.”

“Heh. Pretty nostalgic, really.” Brass mumbled, approaching a little closer. “I’ve missed this.”

“...Yeah.” She sighed, a soft smile on her face. “ _ Me too. _ ”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party went on rather well, actually. No hiccups at all, and any minor inconvenience seemed to barely phase Coyle for longer than a second at best. She was just rollin’ with the punches.

“Heyyy girl-frennnnn!” Lola grinned, coming to Coyle from nearby. “Someone’s had a change-a heart. You get taken ‘round the world through the night, seein’ what life would be like if you were never bornnnn?”

“Not  _ quite. _ ” Coyle smirked. “But something like that, sure!”

“Well, ya still got your Secret Santa gift to open uppppp...!” Lola smiled brightly, producing the polka-dot box once more.

Coyle sighed deeply. “I  _ guess _ it couldn’t hurt...”

The second the box’s wrapping paper got even  _ slightly _ torn, a large ARM sprung out from the box and slammed a pie of whipped cream right into Coyle’s face. The room fell silent in shock as everyone stared wide-eyed at the incident, their eyes locked on Coyle - who stood with her face  _ covered  _ in cream.

Lola was busting a gut louder than ever before, wobbling back and forth as she laughed heartily, gasping for air as best she could between her laughs.

Coyle’s hand slowly came up and wiped away some of the cream from her face, which was now burning with rage.

“Hooooooo- _ wee! _ ” Lola sighed, recovering from her immense laughter. “ _ Gotcha good there~! _ ” She flung an ARM around Coyle’s shoulder. “ _ Merry Christmas, doc! _ ”

Coyle shut her eyes, breathed in deeply, and then sighed slowly. Her mouth curved into a soft smile as she put her ARM around Lola in return. “...Merry Christmas, sugarface.”


	7. Epilogue

Christmas came and went, and now the Lab was officially on break for the remainder of the year - a first in a  _ very _ long time. The party had gone down as a resounding success, and as each guest left they seemed to wish Coyle a Merry Christmas rather genuinely.

New Years was right around the corner now, and though Spring Gym was equally as closed as the Lab, it did still have  _ one _ visitor.

Within the empty rooms of the gym bounced a familiar young soul named Spring Man - the third to take that name, actually. He hopped from foot to foot as he pummeled at the punching bag before him. Break or not, he had to keep toned! And being all alone like this, well, it made for a nice and peaceful workout sesh. Not bad at all.

He paused briefly as he heard footsteps across the room. Looking over his shoulder, he immediately recognised the face of the most secret of all Santas that year -  _ Dr. Coyle! _

“Heya, doc!” He greeted. “I’m surprised to see you here around this time of-”

Coyle’s hand suddenly shut around his throat as she pinned him up against the wall.

“D-Doc... Wh-wha... Why are y-...” He gasped.

“ _ Don’t you  _ **_ever_ ** _ appear to me in a dream again. _ ” She grunted harshly through her teeth. “ _ Got that? _ ”  
  
He stared wide eyed at her, unsure what to make of that, before she dropped him to the floor and began to walk away. He panted for air again as he sat himself up. “Wh... What the  _ hell _ was that for?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope this was a fun little reimagining~
> 
> I'll be working on plenty of ARMS stories through 2019 for sure! But I think I'm going on a little hiatus first, just to take my time with the next fic. Rushing to get this one done by Christmas really drained me!


End file.
